Related Tags:

The NFL owners called to vote today on some newly proposed rules to be implemented in the NFL this next season.

One rule change applies to kickoffs, to make them more safe. Kickoffs are now moved up 5 yards to the 35 yard line. The touchbacks will remain at the 20 yard line, despite the proposal to move them to the 25.

Pro Football Weekly’s and The Score’s football analyst Hub Arkush joined The Danny Mac show today and had a strong opinion on the new rule.

“I think it’s a terrible rule,” Arkush said. “It’s one of the great plays in football. It’s why you sit around and watch the Seahawks play the Bucs when the Bears are idle, and you look for those big moments, those big plays. What’s better than a kickoff return, or quite frankly a de-cleating on a kick-off return or a big hit.”

Arkush also touched on the upcoming trail between the players and the owners.

“The players have said from day one that they are happy to continue to play under the old agreement and [at the same time] continue to negotiate. Every time you heard a sound bite [from the owners], ‘the players walked away from the table and didn’t come back to negotiate,’…[the players] walked away from the table because the owners were going to lock them out. The only leverage they had was to de-certify and try to stop the lockout.”

The players continue to show very little leverage in this situation. Arkush said the players wish to keep playing and negotiate, but the owners want it their way. It seems the owners hold the key to this lockout.